svsg, THE FOUNTAIN is indeed a well that smart and tasteful people will be rewarded with in taking a taste of.

I'm glad you dug the shit out of it too.

Ronnie I think you have to put Kubrick's final masterpiece about secret societies and skullduggery 'Eyes wide shut' on that list.

It is loaded with obvious references to the secret societal world of Freemason symbology, ritual, and philosophy. Including various muscial works from the famous mason Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's famous 'magic flute'(afs wrote a review of it somewhere) was very revolutionary/unique in that he was one of the first to discuss the philosophies of this famous group. He died early, many think at the hands of his masons, b/c of this exposing piece called 'the magic flute.'

Kubrick too broke the mold with his piece dealing with secret societies(more specifically freemasonry). He uses the typical 'pezzonovante'(politicians, judges, doctors, etc) to represent his masked version of the masons. And of course, Kubrick died suddenly and mysteriously right after the movie was made.

It is a movie I know that I will watch for the rest of my life.

Deja Vu ** 1/2
(First Viewing)

An ATF agent travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered, falling in love with her during the process. A brief review here for Deja Vu. Not a bad movie but nothing great either and it was surprisingly easy to follow (as I thought I might have been lost from time to time but was pleased to find that was not the case). Denzel was enjoyable as was James Caviezel, who I was surprised to even see in the film. And for those Tony Scott haters out there, he stayed clear away from the "MTV style" directing that plagued you during Man On Fire and Domino. So with that, you might actually want to think about seeing this in the theaters, although more than likely I'm sure you'll wait 'til DVD (if that).

I currently give four stars, my top rating, to ten films.

Which 10 exactly Capo? Anyway, looks like we're both in the same boat. Unlike Ebert, we don't give away 3 stars or full-score ratings like candy.

Ice, EYES WIDE SHUT was really great. Not a masterpiece, but damn great, and sadly treated with either indifference or hostility by most people.

Then there was Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON. Among the best-shot films in history, its held back by Kubrick's decision to have a narration track.

Still, glad to see someone else considers (probably rightly) EWS a masterpiece.

The rest of the Kubrick filmography:

EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) - ****1/2
BARRY LYNDON (1975) - ****
LOLITA (1962) - NO RATING - NOT SEEN
SPARTACUS (1960) - ***
PATHS OF GLORY (1957) - ****1/2
THE KILLING (1956) - ***1/2
KILLER'S KISS (1955) - ***

*AI: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001) - ****

*=Not a true Kubrick film as we know, but its like if someone ever took up Hitchcock's noted "blind man given his sight back" outline and actually filmed it. Its not the master's work, but traces would be visible in the material.

Though I'm sure Kubrick wouldn't have put the sacraine touch that Spielberg gave to AI.

The ten are as follows:

Blue Velvet David Lynch, 1986
Don't Look Now Nicolas Roeg, 1973
Éloge de l'amour In Praise of Love Jean-Luc Godard, 2001
Eraserhead David Lynch, 1976
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry, 2004
Irréversible Irreversible Gaspar Noé, 2002
Manhattan Woody Allen, 1979
Persona Ingmar Bergman, 1966
Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese, 1976
Weekend Jean-Luc Godard, 1967

I expect a few more to be added when I next revisit them...

You know Capo, I don't have a problem at all with your scores for those films.

Anyway, you heard about that stunt that Lynch did in LA?

Haha, yeah.

"Without this cow, there'd be no cheese in Inland Empire."

Beerfest ***
(Second Viewing)

Two brothers travel to Germany for Oktoberfest, only to stumble upon secret, centuries-old competition described as a "Fight Club" with beer games. I think this is the best Broken Lizard film. I've only seen Super Troopers once and plan on watching it again in the next week given I have the time to do so. Definitely "the ultimate drinking movie!"

Pulse
(First Viewing)

Imagine our wireless technologies made a connection to a world beyond our own. Imagine that world used that technology as a doorway into ours. Now, imagine the connection we made can't be shut down. When you turn on your cell phone or log on to your e-mail, they'll get in, you'll be infected and they'll be able to take from you what they don't have anymore -- life.

The only reason I watched this movie was because it was a free rental from work. One of the WORST "horror" movies I've ever seen in my life. It's not even a "it's so bad it's good" movie like Stay Alive. It's just plain BAD!

Another two for the masterpiece list, and one more for the four-star elite.

Lost In Translation
Sofia Coppola 2003 US/Japan Nth time; DVD
Two Americans in Japan, one an actor, the other a lonely wife over on her husband's business, meet up and enjoy each other's company.
The loneliness of life, communicated via two people, both frustrated by their respective inert marriages, who find one another in the same alien world. Two notable points, then: the excellent performances carry the film with remarkable weight, and the vision of a new culture, a new way of life, daunting at first and warming at the finish, is wonderfully achieved. Coppola's style is unique, both hip and invididual, accessible and obscure; it's a massively popular film, for instance, but her narrative might fit best in what academics - however outdated they are - define as 'Art Cinema': an accumulation of situations which might not add up to much as a story, which invites us to explore the central relationship, to connect to it, on a much deeper level than otherwise allowed. Perceptive, brave, and utterly fantastic.

Marie Antoinette
Sofia Coppola 2005 Japan/France/US 1st time; big screen
An Austrian princess is wedded, at 15, to a French Dauphin in the hope of bringing together Versailles and Vienna. At 19 she becomes Queen of France, but trouble is brewing amongst the public.
Ambitious and misunderstood, a tragic, rather quiet film about a girl entering a world completely alien to her, and becoming slowly seduced by it. Seduction is the key word - it's visually fantastic, meticulously designed, and overall irresistible. It's probably going to be remembered (if at all) as a hideously inaccurate biopic with an out-of-place soundtrack. But Coppola continues to impress, as a deceptively bold director who moves on with each film. She has a fine sense of pace, and her control of actors is brilliant; the two can be seen together most evidently when the title character is deflowered, and we cut to the birth of her first child - it might seem too pacy and convenient for some, but Dunst's facial expression lends a weight other directors would have missed (and her performance in general is another lesson in subtlety). Arresting from start to finish, and the final shot, a very brief coda, is haunting and implicit.

----

I must see The Virgin Suicides,and quick. But I must say, I think it is most rewarding to enter Coppola's films with as blank a slate as possible, with as few expectations as possible. If that seems obvious, it is especially the case with her.

Coppola's style is not only interesting in itself, but sparks all kinds of debates when placed at the centre of stuff like box-office draw, film and gender, and art/popular discussions. Such things are reductive, but I think she's a fantastic director who is, I suspect, going to be very misunderstood if she continues with this trend of individualistic vision.

...And I very much hope she does. I hope her ambition and confidence isn't knocked by the mixed, cautious reactions Marie Antoinette has received, and I hope she continues to attract funding for her films. It would be a shame if she didn't. For now, though, let us rejoice in this risky, very wonderful number she is dancing, a fine line between box-office success and artistic preoccupations. Can she entertain both, and if so, for how long?

Marie Antoinette was so good, so decorated, so rococo, so "empty", if you like, that I simply didn't wish to discuss it with the group of cineastes with whom I saw it... so futile I suspect, would my praises have been.

I like the way she handles her narratives, too. In both Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette I see a tendency to unfold narrative as a series of situational repetitions - and in the case of the latter, visual repetitions, in the form of the daily feasts between Marie and Louis. There's certainly room, perhaps justification, for boredom here, for some, but her rhythm and pacing are too controlled for me to be switched off by it. In fact I find it enthralling.

Marie Antoinette might work either way on a revisit, so I'm not going to see it again until it comes to DVD - just as going in with few to no expectations on a first time is a must, I think it even applies (and even to Lost In Translation, too) when you revisit her films.

Anyone ever watch the movie "11:14"?

It seems to always be on satellite, but I never am able to catch it from the begining. So I haven't watched it yet.

Is it any good?



Don Cardi

Watch it, DC!!

Its a little confusing at first, but stick with it. It involves a bunch of stories that become intertwined and all get wrapped up at the end.

I enjoyed it.

I remember you telling me about it a while back. But as I said, everytime I come across it, the movie has started already. I won't watch a movie unless I see it from the begining.

I'll do a search through my DVR and set a timer for it.

Thanks SC.


Don Cardi

Great reviews Capo.

So, how would you rank Sofia with her old man?

Ronnie, I was actually going to say in my post that Sofia has sparked all kinds of interest in me as regards watching her dad's work, the stuff I've not seen.

I think she has all the makings of a fantastic director and good career, but hope she doesn't become the bloatedly unprofitable daughter of her father.

Well, when FF Coppola dies, and she takes command of his hotel/wines/movie empire, then we may worry.

Virgin suicides is an excellent movie.

Spoiler Alert
When the small girl says to the treating doctor "How do you know, you have never been a 13 year old girl?", we understand the characters' pain and tragedy that is awaiting them.
Spoiler End


Lost in translation is again a superb movie. I am going to re-watch it soon. I think Coppola did an excellent job in recreating the loneliness and the general mood. The lighting especially.

I am however biased against period dramas. So I will most likely skip Marie Antoinette.

Grudge 2**
An average horror movie. The problem was that every time you expect something scary to show up on the screen, it actually does. Being predictable, it fails to scare the audience after a while. I was waiting for it to end after a while.

Super Troopers **
(Second Viewing)

Thorny, Mac, Rabbit, Foster and Farva are Vermont state troopers out to have a good time. Stationed in a remote area near the Canadian border, the troopers, avid pranksters with an affinity for syrup, have a knack for screwing up on the job. But when budget cuts in the town of Spurbury threaten their livelihood and pit them against arch-rival Spurbury P.D., the five friends try to straighten up and fly right. That is, until a dead body is discovered and a possible drug ring is unearthed. The super troopers spring into action attempting to solve the crime, save their jobs, and outdo the local police department.

Not as funny as Beerfest and I never understood why everyone loved this movie? It had it's funny moments but overall it was just OK.

Two SHIT movies in two nights... what a waste of time:

Little Man **
I really expected better from the Wayans. The Making-of surely was better than the movie itself - which I didn't find that funny at all, surprisingly. Some parts were "cute", but they couldn't really do it justice in a PG-13 movie.

The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift *
I love watching the extras for shitty movies - especially the director's commentary during the deleted scenes! This gets 1 star simply for the director giving serious-sounding reasons why certain scenes were deleted, when in fact, 90% of the movie should've been deleted! Awful.

I was about to spend money and watch this at one point, the trailers were good. Glad I didn't

Feel free to rent it, if you have insomnia some night...

The Punisher: The Extended Cut ***
(First Viewing)

Special agent Frank Castle had it all: A loving family, a great life, and an adventurous job. But when his life is taken away from him by a ruthless criminal and his associates, Frank has become reborn. Now serving as judge, jury, and executioner, he's a new kind of vigilante out to wage a one man war against those who have done him wrong.

Thomas Jane was a very good Punisher and John Travolta was passable as Howard Saint. However, probably the worst casting was James Carpinello as Bobby Saint. I felt he overacted and tried too hard to be a bad a$$. For some guys it just seems to come natural and it felt forced from him. However, Ben Foster was the surprise scene stealer as Dave who added a nice bit of comic relief alongside John Pinette as Bumbo. Finally, Laura Harring was enjoyable for the very minor role she was given. Bring on the sequel!

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Waynes brothers for one reason and one reason only, In Living Color. Sure their last 2 movies sucked (White Chicks and Little Man) but let's not forget these are still the same guys who gave us In Living Color, Scary Movie and to a lesser extent I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Hopefully, next year's Homey the Clown will get them back on track.

I watched two crappy movies and a good one over the weekend.

War of the Worlds. Directed by Steven Spielberg (2005). This was the most disappointing of the bunch. I always have great expectations when it comes to Spielberg. Well this wasn't the case. I never enjoyed too much sci fi stuff and special effects unless we face a masterpiece as ET was its own way. Well, this time Spielberg gave us a shallow movie - to put it mildly - with no fairy tale. I wonder how much money had to be wasted on such an idiotic thing. Is this the same director of Schindler's list?

Broken Flowers. Directed by Jim Jarmusch (2005). I thought to see Bill Murray in that Lost in translation state of grace once again. All I got was a sleepy movie with no end. The plot idea was not that bad. Too bad it wasn't developped at all.

An unfinished life. Directed by Lasse Hallström (2005)
Good movie with great visuals and top class performances by Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman. Even Jennifer Lopez's acting was tolerable.

How is Broken Flowers not developed? Personally I consider it just shy of the best of it's year. Jarmusch is one of the most important directors of the last 25 years. It relies on subtle ideas.

I prefer gross ideas then...

See it, see it, see it. Seriously, it's full of all kinds of deliberate anachronisms.

Nice list. I've seen all but #2 and #3.
Persona and Manhattan are great films, but neither is the best of their director. My pick would be ANNIE HALL for Woody and THE SEVENTH SEAL for Bergman. WILD STRAWBERRIES in 2nd place, also better than Persona IMO.